The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-12-02

| AS If in answer to this mental Ques~
ton. or the last of these mental ques.
tions. Polly herself came out of the
dining-room and walked up to me,
beamins very brightly under her clint7
sun-bonnet and swinging little basket
in her hand. She does not see Mr..
Hunter Smith; and don't care if she
dOesn's.
'Oh. Jim! So glad to find you. I'm
going over to see Liz. and I'll be there
all day. too. You mustn't forget that.
Wen expect you-you and Buck. Sc
you mustn't stay away. Now will
your" And her brown eyes are SC
very merry. SO good. SO entirely for
getful of last evening. that more and
more l am of the opinion that have
been run down by a nightmare of the
direst description.
''Why can't go with you now?"
ask. Frightening up and taking hold OF
her basket SO that can clasp her hand
slyly.
20. no! that would spoil it. You're
to wait for Buck. But you mustn't eat
dinner here. Now wiH you? You must
come over home for dinner. l won't
tell you any more. But you won't for
get to come now, sciu you?'
She had way of saying snow Uill
you. in putting the antithesis of some
proposition of her own, that-wcll,
that nobody else ever had. l am quite
positive. l glanced at Mr. Hunter
Smith. He was vacantly inspecting
one of the full-grown spring house
flies that come suddenly from NJ one
knows where, and that was now rub
bling its fiat head with its nimble fore
paws down on the very tip branch of
Mr.. Hunter Smiths chin whiskers.
''Of course l won't eat dinner here
And of course I'll wait till Buck
comes. and bring him along with me"
l say, smiling little doubtfully as the
memory of the evening supper and
Mr.. Martin comes over me.
She glanced at Mr.. Hunter Smith.
then at the yellow dog on the horse
blanket, then back ut the closed door
behind us. Then with swift move
ment she put both hands behind my
head and pressed her full red lips upon
mine until felt the white teeth plain
ly. Then she drew back a little.
laughing and making grimaces toward
Mr.. Hunter Smith.
"Don't worry yourself about-about
anybody, Jim. You don't need to-"
and away she ran out of the entry,
rousing up the old yellow dog till one
eye opened and one ear rose an in
slant, and then fell back turning inside
out, whilst all four of the horsetlics
buzzed noisily about in several wild
excursions from the dog to Mr.. Smith
and even to the sunny spot on the entry
wall. Only Mr.. Hunter Smith was en-
tirely unmovcd by this angelic flight.
As for me. all thought of the night
mare and the fiddler and his colleague,
the merry and nimblc-footcd Mr.. Mar
tin. went then and there to lEolus. for
aught l know. The cavern of the
great chest, with its huge, taperins.
mouldy brass cylinder-mounted. on the
queer little wagon, the carbines, the
sabers. the bags of flannel. of canvas
and of leather, vanished, and in their
place was a Heavenly vision of a brown
and white checked gingham dress,
with a narrow edge of white lace pur-
poscly showing below it, and the shape
lest of chintz sun-bonnets concealing
the pretticst face by far that had ever
seen.
So sat down upon the broad poplar
bench at the west wall of the entry and
just beyond the line of the sunshine
and listened to the noisy hum of the
four housc-flies, and the Wicker!
whickcr! of a lot of yellow hammers
upon huge dead oak tree only hum
dred yards away. l could even bend
a little and look down through scat
tered grove of sugar trees and walnuts
to the broad sparkling surface of the
river, where occasional couples of wood
ducks and summer-lucks went fitting
up and down and back and forth.
Across the river in the sparSely TIM
bered bottom the stecly simmer of the
transparent vapor of spring played and
wavered before the purplish blue band
of far forest trees, and above the light
green parallels of gold-twig willows
that put fairy walls upon either side of
the wide. swift, shallow waters. High
above and from the very blue arch Of
the sky itself, seemed to hang by gently
swaying threads light and parted
cloud of snow white swans from whose
long :hroats came at intervals mellow
and sonorous calls. ringing and full of
the pleasing excitements of 4 crowded
voyage of discovery. Altogether it
was the brightest. stilles:. loneliest of
solitary spring days a moment ago
the very sweetest of hopeful spring days
now.
don't at all want to hear the case
of the State against Gran Camel. al
though 1 am reading law, and am a
member of the itinerant
bar of the SandtOwn Circuit. l do not
want to talk to the distracted (and
perhaps abstracting0 MIR. Hunter
Smith. So get up from the bench.
urn the corner of the Leatherwood
House and saunter down u pig-path
through jungle of jimson weeds to
the bank of the river. There l sit
dreamily. throwing occasionally little
bits of bark and willow buds into the
water. and watching the slow. cautious
of a young mud-turtle just
under the edge of the water, for how